BSJ Bachelor of Journalism: Media Impact on Society 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which U.S. Supreme Court case established that prior restraint of the press is presumptively unconstitutional?
- New York Times v. Sullivan
- Near v. Minnesota (Correct answer)
- Hustler Magazine v. Falwell
- Branzburg v. Hayes
Correct answer: Near v. Minnesota
Near v. Minnesota (1931) was the landmark case in which the Supreme Court ruled that prior restraint violates the First Amendment except in very narrow circumstances.
Question 2: The concept of 'media literacy' primarily empowers audiences to do what?
- Read newspapers faster
- Critically analyze and evaluate media messages (Correct answer)
- Produce professional-quality journalism
- Subscribe to credible news sources
Correct answer: Critically analyze and evaluate media messages
Media literacy equips individuals with skills to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media in various forms, fostering critical thinking about media messages.
Question 3: When a reporter's story disproportionately relies on official government sources, this exemplifies which criticism of mainstream journalism?
- Yellow journalism
- Pack journalism
- Source dependence bias (Correct answer)
- Churnalism
Correct answer: Source dependence bias
Source dependence bias occurs when journalists over-rely on official or elite sources, giving those voices disproportionate power to shape news narratives.
Question 4: Which model of news production suggests that stories are filtered through ownership, advertising, sourcing, flak, and ideology?
- Watchdog model
- Propaganda model (Correct answer)
- Public journalism model
- Marketplace of ideas model
Correct answer: Propaganda model
Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman's propaganda model argues that these five filters shape which news gets published and how it is framed.
Question 5: A study finds that after a mass shooting, news coverage focusing on the shooter's name and biography correlates with subsequent copycat attacks. This relates to which media concern?
- Cultivation effect
- Contagion effect (Correct answer)
- Agenda-setting effect
- Priming effect
Correct answer: Contagion effect
The contagion effect suggests that extensive media coverage of violent events, especially naming perpetrators, can inspire imitation by others seeking notoriety.
Question 6: What term describes the practice of news organizations publishing press releases with minimal editing or independent verification?
- Churnalism (Correct answer)
- Infotainment
- Tabloidization
- Convergence
Correct answer: Churnalism
Churnalism refers to journalism where press releases, wire stories, or PR content are republished with little independent reporting or fact-checking.
Question 7: Which theory argues that media do not tell people what to think but instead make certain attributes of issues more prominent, influencing judgments?
- Framing
- Second-level agenda-setting (Correct answer)
- Uses and gratifications
- Cultivation theory
Correct answer: Second-level agenda-setting
Second-level agenda-setting (attribute agenda-setting) holds that media influence not just what topics are salient but which attributes of those topics audiences focus on.
BSJ Bachelor of Journalism: Media Impact on Society 3
Which U.S.
Supreme Court case established that prior restraint of the press is presumptively unconstitutional?